SPRING 2022

The winter installment of the Amigos blog has now slipped into the final chapter of spring, well past the suggested expiration date of, argh, winter. Eek, now it is mid-May! Si, I deserve a late slip from the maestro. Yet, I must say there has been a bit of sour milk this last quarter-and-a-half. I suppose I could excuse my tardiness, suggesting it to be a simple, unforeseen glitch in my psyche. Or, I could offer justification based on my tremendous optimistic hope that the drought would end, our battle with Covid would be won and the current frustration with water hyacinth would have seen a dramatic conclusion. I guess I was in a waiting game. Unfortunately, none of these pesky problems disappeared on schedule, and, although pesky problem #1 and #2 are gone for the moment, what is behind Box #3, the water hyacinth, is the worst of Monty Hall’s deals yet. Let’s Make a Deal regrettably has not been working in our favor.

So, are there silver linings in this crazy mixed up world we live in? Do a few hours on the Presa Allende still conjure up good feelings, piece of mind and a little dose of exercise on top of everything else? Si. Or, si si as the Italians would likely say. Of course, all of this was predicated on the actual possibility of we, the devoted guides of Amigos de la Presa, being able to access the water itself. That, without question, had been our greatest challenge to date. As a refresher, (minds getting feeble and all), during fall we launched the kayaks from the shores of Pantoja. We promptly turned left where the water was most plentiful. *Of note, it also allowed me to practice my Spanish, trumpeting the phrase left turn or “doble izquierda” which I did over and over until the repetitive left turns brought us full circle, a true 360, and back to the launch point. We managed to access some unexplored shorelines, gazed at ruins like the Sunken Church and got shoed away from the dam as we encroached on its spillway. Perhaps, I if had backed off on the counterclockwise thing, made a few figure eights and such, we may have traversed a bit more of our playground. No complaints from me as my command of two Spanish words was very successful. In any case, the lake would soon yield complete, but short-lived admittance as mother nature and her annual rains broadsided us with a vengeance.

As summer rains yielded the return of a vigorous Rio Laja, the transformation from flowered meadows and rows of corn-stocks to an engorged, albeit, bloated version of the Presa Allende, was in furious motion. We re-embraced our beloved boathouse and learned to turn right once again. “Doble derecha” became the new battle cry and, I for one, was delighted to double my vocabulary. Soon the flooded riverside pastures presented us with an amazing array of paddling itineraries (and photo ops for me). Paddles upriver to the new Atotonilco Bridge became our agenda of choice. Meanwhile, the ensuing germination of water hyacinth began to spread its wrath like wildfire. Oh, that Box #3! The two-year drought brought forth a transition from arid cornfields to flooded wetlands at a rapid rate and, up to this date and regardless of all of efforts to curtail the water hyacinth affliction, we are still haunted by the new nemesis, “The Green Monster,” will likely determine our boating paths for some time to come. I say, keep our collective heads up and maybe our mojo might get us back to the old normal. Let’s hope for a good bunch of paddles ahead.

Geoff Nilsen